Timing
by Fallen Ark Angel
Summary: In which Mirajane and Laxus don't work out. And can't reconnect the next time. Or the next time. - One-shot.


To be fair, his decision to break it off was rooted mostly in the fact that Mirajane, for the most part, worked seven days a week, open to close, at the guild hall as the head barmaid. That really didn't leave much time for Laxus. Which was only pushed even further to extremes by the fact that, as an S-Class wizard, Laxus frequently left on high risk jobs that took forever to finish or at least travel back and forth from.

Life was just too complex for the two of them to ever honestly get any free time together. It strained their relationship in almost every way and, really, at times Laxus wondered if there was one or not. All it really meant to him was that he wasn't allowed to spend time with other women which sucked, but wouldn't be so bad had he at least been able to spend that time with Mirajane. Honestly, one day out of a month wasn't working out for him. For either of them, he was sure. Which is why, after a year of toying around, he figured it was time to face the facts.

They just weren't going to work out.

Not that their relationship didn't have it's good qualities, because it certainly did. Laxus really liked being around Mirajane. She made him feel comfortable. They could just sit around on the few times they got to spend together, just laying around in bed, talking about nothing and he was content. Or when he got her some time off the bar to go out on an actual date, that was even better. They didn't have tons of things in common, but she always told him that that was okay; it just meant that they completed one another. She brought a bubbly bliss to his life that he rarely had. And he allowed her to be dark and angry and just vent. She finally really had someone to vent to.

But a friend could solve both those problems for one another. She could be his friend and bring joy to his life while he could just listen to her sometimes, up at the bar, complain about life, and they could both actually find relationships with people that were beneficial to their lifestyles.

Because Laxus liked Mirajane. A lot. And she liked him. A lot. But they'd both had better significant others and, fine, the sex wasn't bad, but it definitely was rushed, most of the time, because she had to get to work or he was going to go train or something else was coming up, and then the amount of time between it was just…

In short, things were too hard for the two of them to be together.

Laxus dreaded the entire time, having to break it off. He wasn't exactly sure how to do it. Most of them women he dated, he didn't care so much about (and certainly didn't have to around ever again) them, and therefore he'd kinda just either avoid them until they got the message or tell them flat out that the wasn't interest in the whole monogamy thing and if they still wanted to, like, hook up, he was chill with that.

It resulted in a lot of pissed off women. Which was a good thing he was a traveling mage and met lots of other women. Else he'd have worked through the list of all the women he knew by then and probably had to die alone.

Or try harder at relationships.

Both sounded equally as horrible.

When it came to Mirajane though (and one other woman that he'd been really serious about, when he was nineteen, that he had to actually put thought into breaking up with or trying to work thing out; you know, because things like that seem to be the most serious at nineteen), Laxus actually had to take some time out to think things over. Mirajane, as stated before, worked mostly up at the bar. And he definitely couldn't do it there.

But at the same time, he didn't want to do it on one of her off days. They were extremely rare and, if she took one off just to be with him, he'd feel like a complete and utter ass if he broke up with her when she took a day off, just to be with him.

So it had to be an organic time in which Mirajane wasn't at work, but she also wasn't off, and Laxus hadn't promised to take her somewhere or made ti seem like they were going to be doing something with one another that day.

The only time he could think of in which that would work was when he knew Mira had breakfast, every Friday, at this little restaurant, all on her own. She called it her time to reflect and think, but Laxus and her siblings knew it was mostly just the time when she was able to get away from everyone and the others all knew to leave her alone for a bit. Considering her life was either spent up at the bar full of people, taking care of the ailing Makarov, or hanging around her house with her siblings/sleeping over at Laxus', just an hour to herself before she had to get down to work, where she could drink coffee and eat breakfast in peace was far less than what Mirajane deserved.

And Laxus was so sorry that he was going to ruin that, mar that time Mirajane had by not only impeding on her alone time, but most importantly ruining the relationship that, while he was sure she realized too wasn't working, she had no concept of possibly ending.

"Dragon!" She was really happy to see him too as he approached her in the back of the tiny restaurant, immediately taking a seat at her table. "What are you doing here?"

Mirajane, at the moment, was eating her favorite, pancakes with chocolate chips and a whipped cream smiley face (Laxus would make it at his place too, for her, the few times he made breakfast instead of her) along with a glass of orange juice. Laxus figured, when it was over, he'd go ahead and pay her bill. You know, to make amends for...breaking her heart or whatever. If that's what he was doing.

He honestly wasn't too sure.

"Hey, demon." Laxus scratched at the back of his head. "I just, uh, came to see you. To talk to you."

"Ooh. Talk, huh?" Mirajane even giggled before nodding down at her plate. "You want some-"

"It's not...funny, Mira. Or fun. Or… I have something serious I want to talk about."

That got her to blink, grin fading as she stared only at him. They were the only customers in the place, other than an old man on the other side of the restaurant, sitting alone and reading the paper. Laxus didn't feel as if Mirajane was the type to make a big scene of things, but if she was, at least it would be somewhere like that.

"Serious," Mirajane repeated slowly, setting her fork down. "What-"

"You know, Mira, that I really do care about you. Honestly. And I...sorta wrote this all down, if you don't mind, so just let me glance at this-"

"Laxus, what are you doing?" she asked as he reached into his pocket to pull out a little sheet of paper. At her words though, he realized how lame that was and finally hung his head with a sigh.

"I don't… Um...I just… We're not working out, Mirajane, and it's not your fault or my fault and I'm not trying to-"

"Are you...breaking up with me?"

"Well that's a really harsh way of-"

"Over _breakfast_?"

"It's not like dinner or lunch would have been any bet-"

"Laxus, I can't… What even-"

"Nothing happened," he assured her and he was trying really hard to continue staring her in the eyes, but was fearful, extremely, of tears. Because he knew Mirajane. Even a simple insult could send her into hysterics. He was nearly certain that a break up would definitely bring about some sort of crying. "And that's just it. I can't...do this anymore, Mirajane."

"Do what? What have we been-"

"Doing nothing. We don't see one another frequently and I've been...I haven't cheated on you or anything, but if we kept going I-"

"Okay, Laxus. Just-"

"No, I'm not trying to make this-"

"I said okay." But she wasn't. And, shaking her head, Mirajane got to her feet, refusing to look at him. Laxus didn't really know what to do (comforting her would seem kind of pointless, considering he was the one that was hurting her, but ignoring her seemed extremely callous which is what he'd been trying to avoid), so he only sat there, watching as she started to leave some jewels on the table, but he only shook his head.

"I'll pay," he told her softly. "I-"

"I don't want you to."

"Mirajane-"

"If you want to break up, Laxus, fine. Just go." She glanced up from her tiny purse then to give him the deadest stare she could pull off. "I don't care. It stupid to try and be together anyways."

Which he couldn't be too mad about. It was stupid. He'd said as much himself, hadn't he? And it was stupid, regardless what either of them thought. They both lived very busy lives that, while intertwined in a very basic way, were also extremely independent of one another. And that wasn't going to be changing any time soon, so if he wanted more time with someone, it was going to have to be someone other than Mirajane. And that was just that.

But he didn't leave. Just sat there as, finally, in a huff, Mirajane tossed some jewels down on the table and walked off. There it was. What everyone had warned Laxus about the second he and Mirajane got involved. For so long, he'd been just a neutral part of Fairy Tail, but it was back to the bad guy. The villain. A role he'd worked so hard to wash clean of himself, only to somehow find himself tangled up with Fairy Tail's sweetheart which inevitably lead to breaking said heart.

Because, you know, that was the story of Laxus' life. Have a mother and father? Lose them both permanently from your life while he's young. Have a grandfather that's the Master of the coolest guild ever in existence? Forever be on his bad side and never be trustworthy in his eyes again by trying to take over said guildhall. Land the hottest woman in, once more, that same guild? Jump into things too soon and ruin it before it really had a chance to get off the ground.

So he didn't go back to Fairy Tail for a bit. Stayed for away from Magnolia for a good three days. Went out. Drank. Tried to hookup with women, but felt a bit like shit for it, so backed out of it each time before things went too far.

About a week of that and he was pretty much ready to go home and get a job. He was hoping against hope that maybe Mira wouldn't be working when he got to the hall (they'd dated for over a year and he still didn't fully know her schedule, it changed that much), but of course that couldn't be the case, because if it were, what would be the point of anything? Huh? If life just let you have small victories at times? What would be the point?

Heh.

The thing was, however, that Mirajane, who happened to be the only one working (even Gramps wasn't around), didn't yell at him. Avoid him. Or even do anything that might hint to the fact that they had been dating very seriously up until seven days ago, when he broke up with her suddenly during her alone time.

Her breakfast alone time.

The horror.

"Hi, Laxus," she greeted before he even fully approached the bar. The man's eyes were wide then and, slowly, he came to stand in front of her.

"Uh, hey, Mirajane." Scratching at the back of his neck, he tried, "Look, I-"

"Some new S-Class jobs were just posted," she said, bouncing just a bit. "So you better snatch them up before Erza does. Or even me."

"Yeah, that's great, but-"

"Did you want something to eat? Or drink? Should I start you a tab?"

"N-No, I just-"

"Well, I'm the only one on the job right now, so if you need anything, just tell me, huh?" She bounced, just a bit then, before moving to walk away from the bar. Across the hall, Macao was waving her over, holding an empty mug up in the air as he continued to laugh along at some story Romeo was telling him about a recent job. "Coming, Macao," she called before, glancing at Laxus and saying, "Talk to you later, Laxus."

And that was it. The big first meeting after the break up.

Huh. He kinda felt cheated.

None of the Thunder Legion seemed to be around, so Laxus only headed over to the board to pick out a job before he got roped into a conversation with someone. And, when he took it to Mirajane, she was back over at the bar, whipping up a drink for someone, but took the job from him with a bright smile.

"Alright, Laxus," she said after glancing it over. "I'll file it immediately. Have a safe trip."

"Thanks. But Mirajane-"

"Laxus." Her tone was still so upbeat too as she handed him the flier back. "I'm trying to be mature and diplomatic about this. If you can't do that, then please, just walk away. We both have to a part of this guild; if this is the consequence of things going awry, so be it. But don't keep poking at something you don't want clean up the mess of."

And what could he say to that? Only a mumbled, "Alright. See you then," before turning to walk off. He could feel Mirajane's eyes on him as he did so, but didn't turn back to glance at her.

Then he left on a very long and tedious job. It helped keep his mind off things, and he did sort of need the jewels, anyhow. And the long walk back home after it (he never used the train on the way home and very rarely on the way there; motion sickness was no joke), Laxus had a good chance to review all that had gone down.

It hadn't been a spur of the moment thing. Not in any regard. He'd thought about it for awhile, whether it was just always in the back of his mind or he was honestly considering it. He and Mirajane were good together, fine, in a lot of ways. Very good. But in the important ones, such as the time they were able to spend together, they just weren't. And it wasn't fair to her, for him to be gone all the time, leaving her to be lonely and in the face of everyone else's budding (in her mind) romances, anymore than it was fair to him, to have to travel and be away from her and alone, constantly in the face of temptation.

Timing. That was what it was. The timing was just all off. Skewed. Most of Mirajane's life was filled with staying in Magnolia, where she was helping the ailing Makarov deal with the guildhall, while Laxus was filled with fun and adventure and intrigue. The parts were opposite, but the timing in which they could be put together was just off.

Now, that didn't mean that one day, maybe, if they never got with anyone else, that Laxus couldn't see he and Mirajane… Because he could. Honest, they had gotten along very well. Extremely well. Should he somehow find himself around more or her find herself less grounded in Magnolia and Fairy Tail, then...maybe something could…

But at the moment, it just needed to be put on a hold. All of it. And he was ready to believe that.

Until, you know, while he was camping out one night on his way home when Freed connected with him through the lacrima to inform him that Makarov was officially handing down the hall to Erza Scarlet.

Which was fine! It was great! It was grand! Laxus wasn't jealous. No, seriously, no sarcasm. He didn't want to be the Master anymore. He just didn't. It was something that he wanted in his youth, but he was growing up. He had grown up. And, honestly, if he wanted to be a master, he'd start his own damn guild and run it the way he wanted.

Fairy Tail was something that had to be handled in a certain way. It had a legacy. A legacy that, should Laxus inherit, could possibly be construed as just being handed over to him.

No. Laxus didn't want Fairy Tail. He loved Fairy Tail, thought the world of it, and would hate to one day have to leave it, but ultimately knew, when he was finally ready to settle down, it would be in an unknown town and to start his own dynasty, his own way, where the name Dreyar meant nothing and he could build his reputation through prowess and leadership alone.

The odd thing was, however, when he arrived in Magnolia, he found out that Mirajane was apparently having the exact same thoughts. Only, her intention was to get things started a hell of a lot sooner.

"What do you mean you won't serve me?" he complained as Lisanna, who was behind the bar when he arrived, flatly told him with a slight glare that he would be getting no beer as long as she was on duty.

"It's your fault that Mirajane's running off."

"What are you talking about? Running off where?" And, even though over a month had passed then since the break up, Laxus still felt a ping of jealousy. "And with who?"

"With no one, dummy," the youngest Strauss complained, still giving him such a heavy glare that Laxus almost felt as if he wasn't dealing with Lisanna at all. The two had had a very good relationship during the course of he and Mirajane's and, fine, he figured that they wouldn't have as tight a bond after he broke up with her sister, but the overwhelming hostility, when Mira clearly felt none, was a bit much. "She's leaving the guild and going to start her music career."

Which was the first Laxus had heard of that. "Music what?"

Lisanna only narrowed her eyes before glaring off and refusing to say another word.

Which is what everyone in the hall seemed to be doing to him. Other than the Thunder Legion who ushered him over to their table and immediately took to explaining. Ever, for obvious reasons (though she pretended as if they didn't exist; err, rather, her very extensive relationship with a certain male Strauss didn't exist), was very much so in the know.

Mirajane was rather doleful over the break up, as would be expected, and complained to both Lucy and Lisanna frequently that it just didn't make sense. Sure, she and Laxus didn't spend a lot of time together, but they seemed to thoroughly enjoy the time that they did get. They fought, of course, but never anything vicious. And he seemed to be very interested in her. What could have gone wrong?

The longer Mirajane had to mope about it though, without him being around to question (though he had a feeling it wouldn't have mattered either way; Mira was going to pretend like everything was alright until she finally imploded), which led to her thinking about many other things.

Including, of course, the fact that years were wasting away and she was still nothing more than a stupid barmaid. And no matter how much Elf, Lisanna, or Lucy tried to tell her otherwise, it didn't matter. Because if that was the way she felt, that was just the way she was going to feel.

Evergreen didn't know, of course, because Elfman didn't know about it and therefore couldn't tell her, but it was actually a rare and very intense conversation that Mirajane had with Cana that spurred on the thoughts that Mira was having.

"I mean," the drunkard said one day as Mirajane was closing up the place and they were the last two in there, "if you feel like you're not doing something here, you should move on. I know I would."

"It's not that simple."

"It is that simple."

"No."

"Yes."

"Cana-"

"I'm not saying it's easy," she clarified, staring forlornly down at her empty beer mug. "Nothing's every easy. It wasn't easy for me to talk to Gildarts. Or for you to come back here after Lisanna… And Master's never had it easy, all the time he's had to rebuild the guildhall. So why would it be any easier for you to leave?"

"The questions wasn't easy. It was whether or not it's simple. And how sober are you?"

Cana gave her a look from where she was seated, at the bar, before saying, "I got here late, remember? Just got in from a job."

"Not enough time then, to get drunk."

"Not for me, anyways."

They both shared a grin, at that, before Mirajane, who was busy sweeping, only said, "I can't leave Lisanna and Elf. I-"

"Why not? It's not like you're all kids anymore. And it wouldn't be forever; you could just take your guitar and try to go make it for a few months, in Fiore. If it all blows up, then fine, come back home. And if not, you could still come back home, just to visit. Or even tend bar every now and then. Whatever. But you don't wanna spend forever thinking about something and never doing it. Fairy Tail's not going anywhere. But your chance of actually pulling off being a singer definitely is."

Mira only blinked. Then, with a slight grin, she leaned on the broom as she stared over at the other woman.

"Whatever amount it is that you've drank tonight, Cana," she remarked, "must have been the perfect balance."

"Really?" Cana seemed to be the more depressive one then as she only shrugged her shoulders a bit. "I feel as if I haven't drank near enough."

"And therein lies the key."

But it wasn't like Cana was the only one pushing her to go. Lucy, as well, had a rather small hand in it, as she didn't right out tell Mirajane that, if she was dissatisfied with her current state, to go try something drastically new, but she did mention that she too wanted something for herself. She wanted to be a Fairy Tail mage and, admittedly through some pure coincidences (though arguably fate), she found herself achieving such a thing. But it wasn't in her comfort zone that she got there.

Fairy Tail was a safety net for Mirajane, fine, and it would always be that, but if she was ready to stretch her boundaries a bit, who could really blame her? Honestly?

All Evergreen knew of the story, however, was that Mirajane had been thinking for a long time of, at the very least, taking some time off from the hall and exploring Magnolia for a bit, her guitar and hopefully playing it a part of that, of course.

Laxus was a bit floored at that and, still a bit dazed over not only Erza taking command of the hall, but also the idea that he might have played a bigger role in Mirajane leaving than the others realized.

What if she decided that they couldn't stay at the same guild together? And that she had to leave because, like, she couldn't see him out, living his life, while she was miserable because she honestly thought they had something great? Because, again, it was great. The timing was just off.

If that made sense.

But the thing was, Laxus didn't know what to do about the whole thing. It wasn't as if he could just go to Mirajane and flat out ask her if the reason she was making such a drastic change in her life was because he'd broken up with her. If that didn't sound like a complete and utter narcissistic thing to say, then Laxus didn't know what did.

So he said nothing. To Mirajane, anyways. Knowing how flighty the woman was (even before their year of dating, he'd known), he figured that bothering with her would get him nowhere. Rather, he'd go to the only other person besides her siblings that could possibly get Mirajane to stay.

"What do you mean you told her to go?"

"What else do you want me to say, boy?" Makarov griped as he and his grandson had tea out on the back patio of his house. "I told her to go."

"Why," Laxus grumbled, "would you tell her that? Huh? If anyone, you should want her here."

"And why should I want that?"

"Because she takes care of you, Gramps!"

"Does she?" He gave his grandson a hard look. "Last I checked, she took care of my guild. Which, with Erza in control of now, needs far less overseeing by a young set of eyes."

"She fucking feeds you, Gramps," his grandson said through ground teeth, trying his hardest not to yell. "And cleans your house. And waters all these damn plants!"

He gestured that time, around the patio, where an assortment of potted plants and a garden sat out in the yard. Makarov looked around at them with a slight shrug.

"I never rightly liked them to begin with."

"W-What?"

"And surely my adoring grandson can come over and keep me company."

"What are you-"

"Clean my house."

"No way! I-"

"Bring me my dinner."

"That is not happening."

"Why not?" Makarov lifted his tea up to his mouth. "It's you that ran off my woman."

Narrowing his eyes then, Laxus said, "First off, she was mine-"

"Mine first."

"That's gross. She was a child to you first."

"Oh, shut up, Laxus." Huffing, Makarov said simply, "It's bad enough that you've run Mirajane off-"

"You told her to go!"

"Well, I couldn't very well tell a woman that I'm not related to that I want her to put her life on hold even longer than she has to care for me in my ailing days." Makarov held his head up higher. "Besides, I just let Mirajane care for me because it means that I get to spend time with her."

"You know, you can't perv on my girlfriend."

"You," Makarov remarked with a frown, "told her that you were through with her."

"Yeah, well, apparently now so have you."

"No." And his grandfather seemed pretty earnest about that. "I did not. She expressed to me that she wished to move on with her life and I shared the same sentiment. Then I said that I was considering handing over the hall to Erza and, that if I did that, she could do what she wished to do. She is an S-Class mage, Laxus; if she wishes to travel, the rest of you do all the time. Why should Mirajane be confined to Magnolia?"

"I never said she should," he grumbled. "I just meant that… She's not thinking. She-"

"You do not wished to be blamed," Makarov clarified before taking a sip of tea. After, he shrugged once more. "What difference would it make to you if you were or if you weren't? And believe me, I can assure you, it has nothing to do with you."

"It had somethin' to do with me," Laxus grumbled, looking around at the plants once more, though that time it was just so that he didn't have to keep looking at his grandfather. "She would have never brought it up if we were still dating. Ergo, I have something to do-"

"Ear go where?"

"What?"

"What?"

Their eyes met again as the two men only stared at one another. With a roll of his eyes finally, Laxus took a long sip from his drink before grumbling something under his breath about how annoying the man was.

No debate.

But then again, Makarov thought the same thing about him.

"I just don't want Mirajane to go off on this...adventure and something go wrong and me have to deal with, like, the guilt or whatever."

"If you want to hold her back from doing something," Makarov tsked, "because of your fear of your own guilt, then perhaps you' should really think about if you care about Mirajane at all."

Well, that was no help. But then again, Laxus never expected the man to be much of that. He seemed to help and advise every single young guild member _except_ his own damn grandson. It was so aggravating!

But anyways, Laxus didn't have forever and a day to dwell on that. Mirajane, as he found out, was leaving in two days and, well, he only had that long to figure out just what he was going to do about it. So he thought. And thought. And worked out. Slept. Ate. Thought some more. About other things. Then about Mirajane again. And, somehow, all that time passed over to the day that Mira was leaving and, well, Laxus hadn't really figured anything out yet.

So he went over to the Strauss house to see if maybe he could speak to Mirajane before she left and maybe absolve any and all guilt by wiping his hands of the whole thing. If she went after he talked to her, then fine; it was her fault. Not his. She chose to go. Didn't feel forced or anything of the sort.

"Go fuck yourself."

Instead, he was greeted at the door by, quite possibly, the first curse word Lisanna had ever uttered. At the very least, it was certainly the first she'd ever said in his presence. Laxus was so shocked that when the door was just shut in his face, he only stood there.

What had just happened?

"Lisanna, who was that?" he heard Mirajane call from somewhere in the house.

"Wrong address."

"Well, considering I heard what you said to them, I'd sure hope not."

Meh.

Laxus knocked again. Then waited, hands clasped behind his back, until, that time, Mirajane answered the door.

She wasn't surprised to see him, it seemed, though he figured Lisanna's attitude had been a pretty big tip off.

"I'm busy, Laxus," she said, not even offering him a chance to come in. "I'm about to-"

"Leave. I know." Then he shrugged. "Can I just have a minute?"

Mira hesitated, just for a moment, before slowly backing up. "Sure, let's-"

"Away from your sister." Laxus tried hard not to look off. "Please."

Slowly, the woman came to step out on the front porch, pulling the door shut behind her.

"Come on," she said, walking passed Laxus, being sure not to touch him. "I want to go see if I can find my dog to say goodbye anyways."

Which meant they had to walk up and down the alleyways, calling out for old Alexandria to show his ugly mug. After a good minute of that, Laxus finally found his voice and spoke.

"You know, Mirajane, I wanted to talk to you before you, uh, left because I've been...concerned about a few things."

"Is that so?" She hardly seemed to be listening to him though, focused rather on the searching behind every trash bin and anything else that the animal could be hiding under.

"Yeah, I just… Mirajane, you aren't...doing this whole thing on a whim, are you?"

"What whole thing?"

"Mira-"

"You mean the leaving thing?"

He tried hard not to roll his eyes. It didn't work. "Yes, Mirajane. The leaving thing. The...being a singer thing. I mean, what is that? Didn't you grow out of that?"

"Laxus, I've told you about it before, when we were still…" She glanced up at him. "I've always wanted to go travel around Fiore and try and play bars and get a following and… It's just my dream. And I want to do it. I don't have anything holding me here. At all. Things are peaceful and I just… What difference does it make?" She even shrugged. "We are broken up, you know."

"I know. I just-"

"What difference does it make to-"

"I still care about you, woman. It wasn't a lie, when I would say that," he assured her. "I love you, Mirajane."

"Laxus, don't-"

"I do. I really do. I've told you that before. Why are you-"

"Because we're-"

"Just because it's over doesn't mean that I didn't love you. Or that I don't love you now." He kicked at the ground. "And that's why I want to make sure that you've really thought this through. That you're not just some woman to me, you know. I want to still, you know, be close. Or at least friendly. I-"

"It's not me, it's you, _and_ you still want to be friends? Come on, Laxus, be for real. What's next? You just don't want to hold me back?"

"Well, I don't, but-"

"You're really full of it, you know that?"

"I'm only trying to-"

"Oh! Alexandria!"

And there was the stupid mutt, reared on on his back haunches as he stuck his snout in an open trashcan. At the sound of Mirajane's voice, however, the wiry old pooch jumped back and rushed right over, skidding to a stop as Mirajane knelt down to wrap her arms around the filthy beast.

Yuck.

"Oh, sweetie, I just wanted to tell you that I love you and that I care about you and that even if you don't see me for awhile, it's okay, because I'll be home soon."

When Laxus closed his eyes, he was able to pretend she was saying all that to him. Only the ever present stench of, erm, Alexandria, was a kind of a fantasy ruiner, but whatever.

"And Elf promised me that he'd feed you," Mirajane went on, "and put water in that little bowl for you. Oh, Alex, I wish I could take you with me, but I can't. I just have to go try something on my own for awhile. And I know you'll be fine here. You're always fine with here. With or without me. We just both wish that it could be with me, huh?"

Mmmm. If only the stench wasn't there (and she would stop using the dog's name). If only.

Clearing his throat loudly, Laxus got Mirajane to stare up at him before saying, "There's something that I, uh, have to say, Mira."

"You've been saying a whole lot, honestly, Lax, but-"

"I just… You know, you ran off before I got to tell you, really, why we were breaking up. I mean, really tell you. And I just… Hear me out, huh? Before you leave?"

She was still down on her knees, petting Alexandria, but did nod at him slightly, as if signaling for him to continue.

"It's just that I… The reason I broke up with you was all timing. You're always working and I'm always gone and we never get a chance to be together. Once or twice a month is just not cutting it for me anymore. And even if I took time off, you'd still be up at the bar, working and that just wouldn't do anything. We're great for one another in every way, but that."

"I wouldn't say great, but-"

"You know, woman, you aren't making this easy."

"I'm sorry, Laxus, but you're the one that broke up with me. Remember?" She went back to her dog. "That's not something that you can just pretend didn't happen. I was really caught off guard. I never thought you'd-"

"I didn't want to hurt you. I just-"

"Oh, please." Mira rolled her own eyes that time. "You didn't hurt me."

"You don't have to be strong for me, you know. I-"

"I've been broken up with before, Laxus. Not to mention I have sort of lost my parents and sister before, so I think feeling hurt about a silly little relationship-"

"Why are you being like this?" he complained. "Huh? I came over here to make amends or something and you're acting like nothing's wrong. We broke up, Mirajane. After being very serious about one another. So I just don't get what you're gaining by acting indifferent towards that fact."

Not a lot, honestly. It was rather hard too. But she could kind of tell what Laxus was attempting to do. He was trying to work his way back in as a friend or something of the like. Maybe even still someone that he could sleep with on occasion. She knew he did that with women at times, when things didn't work out.

But Mirajane didn't want that. At all. She honestly had felt something deep for the man and for him to (in her mind) so callously just end it (again, over breakfast, no less, like the rest of her day wouldn't be screwed because of that) without out warning, only to come back and ask to be friends was just a slap in the face, really. If he didn't care enough about her to work through their 'timing' issues, or at least just bring them up to her in a serious way then, maybe, they could work through them, then why should she care?

To just dump her over it, when he claimed that they were so 'great' together was unbelievable to the woman.

Which is why she just wasn't going to put up with it. At all.

Laxus' issue, however, was that she wasn't listening. Or at least not understanding. Maybe he wasn't explaining correctly? Either way, what he wanted her to know just wasn't coming out right.

He was trying to tell her that, yes, time had been why he broke up with her, but he didn't feel as if it needed to be permanent. There would come a time, he was certain, when she would have more time to spend with him and he with her, and if something better hadn't happened in either of their lives when that time rolled around, then maybe they could entertain the idea of getting back together.

And yeah, sure, late night urges and occasionally hooking up between those periods would be nice, but not expected.

Desired heavily, but…

"I'm," Mirajane said as she got to her feet and, realizing she didn't have food, Alexandria went back on his search for some (that trashcan over there looked promising), "not doing anything, Laxus. At all. Other than getting ready to take off. So if there's something you have to say to me, something real, say it now because-"

"We broke up over time, Mirajane, and now you're going to have a lot of it on your hands and-"

"Oh, Laxus, please tell me you're not-"

"-and I just don't want you to be doing this to try and get back with me or something because that's just dumb."

"-going to ask me to get back together are you?"

And then they both just stared at one another. Blushing, Mirajane looked off first as Laxus only coughed.

"I have to-"

"Mira, no, wait, I-"

"For what? Huh? What could I possibly-"

"I'm not saying let's not get back together. I just don't want you to be doing this so that we can," he complained as she only glared at him. "I mean, hey, if the whole thing was over time and you actually did just want to get away from the hall and now can spend more time with me, then-"

"So basically," Mira began, voice taking _that_ tone with him (he hated _that_ tone), "you've gone out now, done whatever it is you wanted to do with whoever it is that you wanted to while we were broken up and now want to come back to me and-"

"What? No. I just told you this is about time. Solely. I didn't break up with you to...sleep with someone else. I-"

"Don't lie, Laxus."

"I'm not."

That time her roll eye was her angry one. "Oh, whatever."

"I haven't. Seriously-"

"Laxus, just tell me. Because we can get over that."

"I didn't-"

"Or at least talk about it. Because that's kind of a low thing to-"

"Mira, I'm telling you that I didn't-"

"It's not that serious. I mean, I've slept with someone since-"

"You've what?" Laxus didn't care then that they were in the alley or that other people were around to hear. Mira had missed her chance to make a scene, but he was going to be taking his. "When? What are you-"

"Oh, shut up, Laxus. Like you didn't sleep with-"

"I'm telling you, woman, that I didn't."

Mira blinked. "Honestly?"

"Honestly!"

"Oh." Her arms, which had become crossed, fell to her sides then. "W-Well-"

"Who did you sleep with?"

"Laxus-"

"It's only been a month!"

"It's been a lot more then a month."

"Hardly!"

"It wouldn't matter if it had been a day, Laxus," she reminded with a frown. "You're the one that broke up with me, remember? Not the other way around. Not even close."

He deflated a bit. Then, lips stuck out as if he were pouting, he said, "Do I know him?"

"What difference-"

"I do, don't I?"

"Lax-"

"Does it go to the guild? Who was it? Who?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Just tell me-"

"We're broken up." She gave him a harsh look then. "Per your decision. So you don't get to know things like that, Lax. I'm sorry."

"Oh, now you're sorry? After going out and sleeping with someone-"

"Which I have a right to do, you know."

She most definitely did. No denying it. None.

However, Laxus didn't have to like it. He could respect it. Couldn't do anything to stop it. And would even admit that it had to happen sometime, so why not then? But that didn't mean he couldn't feel a bit of a tug of possessiveness.

"I have to go, Laxus," Mirajane said after they both just stood there for a moment, silently. He didn't want to let her go, but if she was that done with him, then what could he say?

He didn't even raise a hand to wave goodbye when she did before turning to walk off, back for her home, leaving him in that alleyway, mostly alone, although Alexandria was still lingering around, searching out a tasty treat.

So he went home. And Mirajane went...wherever she was going. Huh. Not only had he dropped the ball on getting her to stay, he also forgot to ask where she was headed.

Not that things would have worked anyhow, he reminded himself frequently. Mirajane wasn't just taking time off from the bar; she was leaving indefinitely to go start another time consuming thing that just wouldn't mesh well with a traveling S-Class wizard.

The only thing for Laxus to do was to let Mirajane go, both physically and mentally. So he did. Heard random tidbits about her up at the hall or from Evergreen and, when he and Lisanna finally made a shaky amends, it was her about six months later that told him that Mirajane would be back in town in the coming days.

"Honestly?" He was holding a job flier which she was waiting to take from his hands, so that she could process it, but Laxus wasn't giving it up then.

"Yep," Lisanna said with the nod of her head as she continued to hold her hand out, waiting for him to give her the request form. He still didn't.

"Well, do you know the actual day she says she'll be back here?" He glanced down at the job before back at her. "Or-"

"I really doubt she wants to see you, Laxus."

"What?" Then he snarled at her, just enough to get the youngest Strauss to giggle. He always liked making Lisanna giggle. When she'd been mad at him was worse than breaking up with Mirajane. He didn't know Lisanna well when she they were young, but when she'd died… He just enjoyed having her back too much to ever fight with her. "I didn't say nothin' about seein' your filthy sister."

"She's only filthy because she slept with you."

"Hey-"

Giggling even more, Lisanna finally snatched the job, though it was to go tack it back up then. With a grin, she said, "Guess who she's taking with her when she leaves?"

Laxus leaned against the bar, staring into the deep blues that Lisanna shared with her sister, though not to nearly the same intensity.

"I'm guessin' since your brother's still being jerked around by Evergreen, Cana's a drunk, Erza's the Master, Gramps is too old, Lucy comes with the baggage a la Natsu and Happy, and Mirajane's out of close friends after that, I'm guessin'...her dog?"

"Laxus-"

"You?" he asked seriously that time. Adding a snort, he said, "What good would you do for Mirajane, out on the road?"

"She's actually doing very well, thank you very much, with her music." Then Lisanna grinned down at the job request. "Or at least she's getting some bars to let her play frequently."

"Mmmm."

"And she wants someone there with her. You know, someone she knows. Really knows. And I'm tired of playing barmaid."

"Already?" he asked. "After your sister put in so many good years?"

"I'm not like Mirajane. This place bores me to tears." Lisanna glanced down at herself then before mumbling, "And I don't pull in nearly as many tips as Sis."

Reaching out, Laxus tapped her on the head before straightening up. "Yeah, well, I'm sure you'll be a good person to keep her safe on the road. You know, the person that's scariest transformation is a giant bunny-"

"I'll have you know that my feline takeover is _very_ threatening."

So, even though he'd been planning on getting out of town for awhile, Laxus hunkered down in Magnolia and waited for Mirajane to come strolling on through. And then he waited three more days, after finding out she was there because, hey, he wasn't desperate.

Just lonely. Sort of. Even six months out from their relationship, Laxus had to admit that things were still kind of falling back into place. For over a year his life had been structured around being with Mirajane and the little things that they would do together. He'd thought that without her, he'd be able to get right back to what he'd done before her, but it just wasn't true.

Mirajane really took care of Laxus in a way that he didn't realize until it was all over. Yeah, sure, fine, they didn't get to spend a lot of time alone together. At all. But up at the hall, when he'd come in, she'd always spend her breaks with him. Knew his drink order by heart. Cooked his steak just right. Never burnt his bacon the way the others did because she realized just what 'extra crispy' meant when it came to him.

And man if she didn't take care of his apartment for him while he was away. His fridge would be stocked when he got in and his sheets were changed far more regularly with her staying over there. She made sure his clothes actually made it into the closet and dresser, made sure his mail got taken care of while he was out, and always was over, even when she worked all night, when he came in to rub his back because it had been getting tight as of late, when he wasn't out on a job.

Which yeah, pretty much sounded like extremely shallow reasons to miss someone, but it wasn't like that. Not really. It was more of her understanding just what he needed when he was home and doing it, without being asked, because she enjoyed that. Taking care of others. Of him. She always had. And he appreciated it. All of it.

He just appreciated it even more when it was, you know, gone. And she was gone.

Laxus missed other stuff about Mirajane too, of course. Just being around her relaxed him, for some reason, which he desperately needed in his life. And she listened to him. Fully. Listened when he griped about how annoying others were and, unlike the Thunder Legion, would actually talk him through his feelings.

Just why did it piss him off when the others were goofing off? Or when one of the lowly members came back unsuccessful from a job? What made him so upset at the sight of Natsu and his cohorts breaking things in the hall? What difference did it make to him if Makarov was being too lenient on the others?

Or even things away from the hall. Like, why was it that he had such a hard time saying it? That he loved her? When he kept insisting he did, but would sort of choke on the words as they came out? And that time when he got really upset, on the anniversary of his mother's death, when she took off just so that they could sit around and not talk at all about it until the very end, when she got him to open up about a lot of shit that he'd never tell anyone else.

And then suddenly, without even considering what losing all that might mean to the daily flow of his life, he just cut it out, because they weren't getting enough time together. Actual time. Dates. Free days where neither of them had anything to do.

Six months out, he felt a tad foolish for that. Hearing that Mirajane was doing so well on her side of the break up didn't help him feel any better either. Maybe less guilty, but no less regretful.

Not that things were miserable for him. He kinda did regain some of his freedom. Came and went as he pleased, answered to no one, slept around again without any concern. That was all great.

Just...not having someone there for him, waiting back at home, no matter what, kinda...sucked.

In a major way.

All of that was in mind when he showed up to the Strauss house that day Mirajane was in town. Only, when he did arrive, he found that he wasn't the only one there. Rather, the last people on the face of Earthland that he wanted to see were.

"Hey, Laxus! You come to send Lisanna off by fighting me?"

Natsu. His cat. Lucy. Yep. Last people. Not even exaggerating.

Laxus didn't have time to focus on them though. Rather, his attention turned to Lisanna, who was standing out there with them, a duffel bag at her feet, clearly packed to head out.

"You're leaving today?" was all he asked, quite dumbly. "You and Mira?"

Lisanna was actually trying to soak up the last few Natsu moments she was getting then and only frowned as he walked across their front lawn and over to the porch. It was bad enough that she was having to share those moments with Lucy and Happy (who, don't get her wrong, she was going to miss a whole bunch too, but still; Natsu was Natsu), but now Laxus too?

"Mirajane's inside, Laxus," she tried hard not to snap as she said. "So-"

"Nope." The front door opened. "Now I'm out here too."

"Mira." Laxus coughed then, just from the sight of her, into his hand and Happy, who had secretly been hoping for some sort of love triangle to finally come to its head between Lisanna, Lucy, and Natsu (he'd been hoping for this for a long time yet still wasn't sure how he'd weather the aftermath), quickly abandoned ship and turned his attention into the next best thing; whatever the hell was about to go down between the eldest Strauss and Laxus. "There you are."

She walked right down the steps, bypassing the others to go stand in front of him. "Here I am."

"You look...nice."

And she did. Honest. Time off had done Mirajane a world of good. Her smile didn't seem so plastered on, her hair was down in that way that Laxus thought was so hot, and when she looked him in the eyes, there were no signs of tiredness at all. He had no idea how much this had to do with just being home for a week or if traveling as a musician was somehow less stressful than running (because, honestly, Makarov hadn't run it in far longer than anyone was willing to admit) a guildhall.

"Thank you," Mirajane giggled, smiling brightly up at him.

A beat passed in which they both heard Lisanna begin, once more, her long goodbyes to Natsu (who was kinda over the whole thing at that point, honestly), and Mirajane and Laxus both looked off, both contemplating if they should start theirs.

Or were they still on hello?

"Did you...come by for something? Was it to see Lisanna off?" Mira glanced over her shoulder at her sister. "Because I really don't think you're the slayer she wanted to-"

"You weren't going to come by my place? Before you left?"

"Well, considering you didn't come by mine-"

"What do you consider this?"

"Um, I'm not sure because you haven't been ultra clear yet what you're doing."

He'd get back to her on that. You know, when he figured it out.

"I just...figured I'd come say hi." He looked off. "I thought you'd be here longer, is all."

"You've never been on this side of it, have you?"

"What?"

"Being left for a job?"

Mira meant that to be cheeky, but the way Laxus' eyes clouded over, she knew she'd spoken without thinking of his past.

"Yeah, Mira, I have. But I really don't want to get into that right now."

Which made an awkward moment all the more gauche. Neither could look at the other then and, even though Lisanna was more than keeping the three on the porch busy, they couldn't help to feel even worse with an audience and, ugh, why did he come there again?

"Um, well," Mira began after a moment. "If you just wanted to say hi, then-"

"N-No, I actually, uh… How's, you know, your little singing thing been going?"

"It's not little, but-"

"That's not what I meant. I-"

"It's going fine. Thanks." Mira was being very cordial with him. Not at all how his nostalgia had played her back on those cold nights where he was alone in bed and just couldn't stop thinking about her. "And you've been fine? On your jobs? No...accidents or-"

"Never."

"Good." That grin was forced then as Mirajane held out an arm and gave him the stiffest hug of all time. Against his chest, where her head was awkwardly resting, she said, "Well, I'll see you next-"

"I should come with you."

And that got Mira to freeze. Completely.

"W-What?" Pulling back, she could only stare. "Laxus?"

His words caught him off guard too (sorta; he'd been thinking them since he found out she was back in town, but held them in) and he only stood there for a moment before figuring if his subconscious slipped them out, then he might as well push forwards with it.

"You know." He looked off. "As your...roadie or whatever. You and Lisanna, out on your own, bumbling around Fiore, that just spells trouble. You need a-"

"Real man to go with them?"

Oh shit.

"I've been saying that since the beginning," came the voice of Elfman as he came out of the house, eyes bloodshot from crying for, oh, ever. The only reason he heard them was because, after Laxus' outburst, Lisanna and the others stopped talking just to stare over at the couple (well, the others did; Natsu really didn't care what happened between Mirajane and Laxus, literally at all), leaving the muscular man, who was in the house, to overhear just what was said. "But the two of them don't think that I should come along. That I might-"

"Elfman, are you talking or are you planning?"

"And Ever's here too," Laxus grumbled from the sound of her in the house.

Right. Because if Lisanna and Mira were both officially out of the Strauss house then Evergreen could unofficially move in. Which would require planning. In which she no doubt meant she was going to completely redo the house without Mira's permission (or with it; women were weird and territorial at times, but even weirder sometimes and not at all, so Laxus wasn't really sure which way that was going) while she was gone.

"Oh, Laxus!" Evergreen was rushing out onto the porch as well then too. "What are you doing here?"

"Being a man," Elfman informed her though his girlfriend ignored that, still staring expectantly over at her idol for an explanation.

"He's, like, being super desperate and weird," Lisanna remarked as Lucy took a step behind Natsu for protection, no doubt predicting a large lightning strike to soon wipe out the entire porch. "So knock it off, Laxus."

"Oh, right," Ever remarked, glancing over at Lisanna before at Natsu. "He's the one being weird."

"What is that supposed to-"

"I'm trying," Laxus growled, glaring at all of them, "to have a conversation with Mirajane over here. So if you'd all kindly-"

"L-Laxus, what did you mean?" Mirajane had taken a few steps back. "Come with me? Why would you-"

"Because, Mira," he began as it was clear the two of them weren't getting any privacy any time soon, "you need a...man-"

"A real man!" Elfman called.

"-to be with you. Not because you're, like, weak or whatever. I would never say that."

"Better not," Lisanna remarked.

"But," he went on, "other people might try to take advantage of you. I'm sure they have already. And I-"

"Oh, Mira uses things to her advantage too."

That time, at Lisanna's words, Laxus turned his attention to her. "What?"

"Lis-" Mira tried, but her sister only shrugged.

"You know," she said as Happy, who was about blissed out from his position atop Lucy's head, could hardly contain his giddiness over the whole situation, "Mira uses certain assets to her advantage."

"Assets?" Natsu scratched at his head. "Like what?"

Lucy's face was beyond red as she only put a hand over her face and mumbled to him, "Let's just let this one die, huh?"

"Oh my, Mirajane," Evergreen remarked as Elfman, who had been pumped over the whole man thing, turned a bit green and looked rather sick. "Tell me you're not sleeping around to get to play at these bars? Perhaps I should go too. Because I would love to see just what assets you're-"

"More like ass and tits. Instead of assets? Am I right?"

"What the hell is he doing here?" Laxus complained as Bickslow came bounding out of the house as well, babies trailing along behind him. "I mean, seriously?"

"Oy, boss," the seith complained, pushing up his visor to stare over at him. "I was helpin' Evergreen move in."

"I'm not moving in." The stone mage looked off. "I'm just...moving...things in."

"Nice cover," Lisanna mumbled which only got her a thankfully behind glasses glare.

"Uh, N-Natsu, I really feel like this is where we should probably depart," Lucy spoke up from behind him where she was still blushing heavily and also hiding, just in case Laxus did decide to strike someone down. "Or-"

"No, wait!" Lisanna quickly dropped tormenting her sister then, turning back to stare at Natsu. "I didn't finish saying goodbye."

"Why should I even give you a chance to?" Natsu went back to glaring off. "Takin' off like this, with no warning."

"I've told you for a month I was leaving."

"Well, I forgot, okay? Before Lucy drug me over here today-"

"A thankless job, I might add," the celestial mage complained as Happy bounced off her head to go land in Lisanna's arms. "Just saying."

"I'll miss you, Lisanna," Happy offered up. "And I remembered you were leaving. Here, look in my pack. I got a fish just for you!"

"Uh, w-well, Happy, that's really nice, but-"

"You don't want it? Great." He grinned. As if he was ever planning on her taking it anyways. "Thought that counts, I guess."

Natsu only snorted. "Don't get why everyone has to be moving away and leaving. Now Laxus is too? This is really something."

"Laxus isn't-" Mira started, but her sister cut her off.

"You left for a year! Without even telling anyone! At all! And-"

"And?"

"If you don't see the correlation in that, then I don't even know what we're talking about!"

Laxus blinked, out there in the yard. Then he glanced back at Mirajane.

"I really don't care about teenage drama hour up there," he told her simply before moving to grab her arm. "C'mere. Please. I want to talk to you. Seriously."

"L-Laxus-"

"If I fix your sister will you walk with me?" He glanced back up at the porch. "Hey, flame retardant; she wants you to ask her to fucking stay. Idiot."

"Shut up, Laxus," Lisanna hissed as Evergreen only giggled into her hand. But he was already dragging Mirajane off by the arm who went more willingly than she'd like to admit.

That time they didn't walk around in the alleyways. Instead, they set off down the road and, only when they were far enough from the house, Laxus slowly released her arm.

"You weren't being serious back there," she said simply. "You couldn't have been."

"Well, I'm not expert on stupid love stories, but yeah, I think your sister's just building up to Natsu begging for her to stay or something, which he isn't going to do. Or Happy's trying to build that up. Maybe. Whatever. I really don't care-"

"Not that, Laxus." She gave him a look before rolling her eyes. "About going with me."

"Oh." He took a deep breath then. "I really don't… It just kind of tumbled out."

"I figured."

"But I have missed you, Mirajane." He glanced down at her. "A lot. And I just… I dunno. I've been thinking."

"I'm sure."

"And this entire time, I kept thinking about how your shit was getting in the way of us. Your job was screwing up our timing and then you leaving did and… But what if it's me? I mean, my schedule isn't easy to work around."

"It's really not, considering it's not a schedule at all."

He nodded. "That's my point. Maybe it was...me. And… You made far more time for me than I ever did you. I-"

"Laxus, it's been, like, six months. Just-"

"For you, that might seem like forever," he said, glancing down at her. "But for me, that's just been four very long jobs. No time at all. And I've had a lot of time to think about you and what you've been doing… Granted, I didn't think you were just out sleeping with all of Fiore for gigs-"

"She was exaggerating and you know it," Mira hissed, glaring up at him. Laxus only gave her a slight nod.

"I know."

"I mean, I never slept with someone for a chance to play anywhere," Mirajane went on. "I might have flirted a little. And yeah, I did sleep with a few people-"

"I really don't want to talk about this. At all."

"You sleep around all the time," she complained, giving him a look. Laxus nodded.

"I also don't want to talk about that either though."

"Then-"

"I don't...have to take jobs, Mirajane," he told her simply. "I mean, I do, for jewels, and because I love it, but it doesn't have to be such a constant thing. Not really. I haven't put a lot of thought into this, but… I could have Freed read me to the S-Class jobs, back at home, over a lacrima, take them, go out and get them done while you're busy with your shit-"

"What are you saying? That you'd be-"

"Be with you. On your little- sorry, not little, but your thing, your singing thing. I could go with you and take jobs on the side and help your income and we can just be together. I know you'll be busy and shit, but it would be like-"

"L-Laxus-"

"I just...I dunno. Never mind. I just… I really liked being with you. And maybe I'm not remembering things right or I'm just trying to cram everything I want to say into this single moment and it's just not all coming out right, but I… You know, I still care about you. And I… If you don't want to be in Magnolia anymore, then fine; I don't really like being here much either. And if we could get the timing better now, with us not being in Mag-"

"But it was never about timing for me, Laxus." And Mirajane meant that. "At all. It was for you and, yeah, sometimes it bugged me too, but I was willing to work through that. You weren't."

"But I was willing to get back together," he argued. "When time did work itself out. And now look; it has! So why-"

"I've enjoyed myself, this six months, Laxus." She glanced up at him. "A lot. And...I don't...want to be in a relationship right now."

That got him to stop walking. He just stood there, forcing her to stop too and stare at him.

"It's true," she insisted. "The best thing you did was end our relationship. It gave me a chance to go out and try something that I've wanted for _so long_ and I'm really enjoying it. And I think I'll enjoy it even more with Lisanna coming with me. But...with you being there it would be… I love you too, Laxus. A lot. And you wanted me to wait, remember, for when timing was better? Well, now you get a chance to do that for yourself. I mean...I'm sorry, Lax, but...I don't want to be with you right now."

Which he couldn't be too mad about. Right? Right. Right? Sure. Whatever. 'cause, you know, it was basically the same thing he did to her. Right? When she felt like things were going perfectly and he just ruined everything? Now here he was, ready to bear his soul to her, only for her to claim that she wasn't down with that.

No hurt feelings.

None what so ever.

Heh.

Laxus didn't go back to Mirajane's place with her. Didn't even talk to her. Just grumbled out something about how if she felt that way, fine; go fuck around some more in hopes of one day becoming a mediocre singer, see if he cared.

Which, admittedly, was not the right thing to say. And also contributed to why, when they ran into one another a few months later in some far off town, neither wanted to speak to the other.

But Lisanna, who was in love with life and being away from Natsu's immaturity and traveling and being away from Natsu's ignorance to her love and meeting new people and being even further away from Natsu's apparent desire to not to be her boyfriend, definitely had more than a few things to say to the slayer.

"Oh my gosh, Laxus!" She was practically bouncing in her seat, at the sight of him passing their table out on some patio cafe. Mirajane, however, was refusing to even glance his way. "I can't believe you're here! What are the chances?" Then she was jumping up to go grab his arm and pull him over. "You have to eat with us! Right now! Are you on a job? No? Eat with us!"

"L-Lisanna," he tried as she drug him right over. "I really don't think-"

"I haven't seen someone from Magnolia in forever, much less someone from Fairy Tail." She sat him down right between she and Mirajane. Still, the former model refused to meet his eyes. It was rather easy too, given the fancy sunglasses she was wearing. "And I'm super glad that it was you that I ran into!"

"Why are you yelling?" he grumbled as she only giggled "Have you been drinking?"

Mira, finally, spoke up at that, though it was just to quip, "Lisanna's become pretty good at that."

Grinning, the youngest Strauss only asked, "What are you doing here, Laxus? Something fun? Or are you on a job?"

"I just was passing through," he said, arms folded over his chest as he stared at her. "I'm on my way back home after finishing a j-"

"So you can stay in town tonight and come see Mirajane preform?"

"What?" Mira glared over at her sister. "Lisanna-"

"I really don't think-" the slayer tried, but Lisanna was having none of it. Only spoke over both of them.

"So it's settled. Great! Now let me tell you all about what we've been doing since we last saw you."

Which, for a completely Natsu-less story, his name sure came up a lot. Every time Lisanna mentioned a guy that she went out with on their misadventure (or slept with; Laxus had a feeling she was mostly just enjoying that part of freedom from Magnolia more than anything else), somehow she'd mention something about stupid Fairy Tail and inevitably Natsu and ugh, Laxus was glad she didn't directly ask him something about the other slayer because he might have barfed.

Mirajane seemed pissed at Laxus for not finding some excuse to leave (or maybe her sister for even inviting him over in the first place), but kept quiet. As did Laxus, save the few times that Lisanna asked him a question or required a response. And though he didn't really like the idea of her drinking so much (and definitely hated that she was, apparently, seeing all these men because, as much as he hated the stupid Salamander, at least he was safe and, well, not responsible, but not completely inept either when it came to looking out for Lisanna), she seemed really...happy. A lot of times Laxus kind of felt bad for Lisanna. Back at home, Mirajane was the most important Strauss, Elfman was the loudest one, and she was kind of just the one that pined after Natsu and did her sister's bidding. You know, if you just didn't want to classify her as the one that should have died.

He knew a lot of people just thought of her in that way.

If she'd found herself (or at least something) on her and Mirajane's trip around Fiore, then good for her.

His demon, on the other hand, he did not like the idea of 'finding herself' anywhere other than back at home where he knew the people in the guildhall were smart enough to know better than to even think about putting the moves on his woman, relationship over or not.

Laxus found himself drifting his gaze over to her a lot during Lisanna's stories.

"So you'll come, right?" Lisanna asked when, finally, she'd finished her drink and Mirajane whatever dessert had been on her plate. "Laxus? Tonight? Please?"

"I really don't-"

"Oh, just come, Laxus," Mirajane complained, giving him a look. He only stared back at her though. "Or else Lisanna will blame me for it."

Wow. Okay, so Mirajane wasn't even going to try and pretend to be perky for him? Laxus wasn't sure if that meant he was so far off her radar that he didn't matter or he should be honored that he was the only one she wouldn't put on an act for, pissed off or not.

"Alright," he said, a bit uneasy then as he got to his feet. "Where is-"

"Yay!" Lisanna launched herself at him then and, damn, fine, they'd had an okay relationship when he and Mirajane were dating, but they were never that close.

Just how much had she been drinking?

"Okay, Lisanna," Mirajane finally said as Laxus didn't move to hug her, but wasn't too sure if he should push her away or not. "Calm down."

Another giggle. And then she told Laxus where Mirajane would be preforming that night and, with a grumble about how he really hadn't planned on paying a cover charge just to have fun that night, he agreed to be there.

And he was. That night. There. Only, Lisanna was sorta shocked to see him.

"Oh, wow, Laxus, I didn't think you'd actually show up," she remarked as he approached her in the bar that night. She was at a table with a these two guys that Laxus definitely didn't want anywhere near her, just from the looks of them (and from the way she was hanging off one). Making a face, he only sat down, much to the annoyance of the other men.

"You told me to come," he pointed out. "You insisted."

"Yeah, but I never thought you'd listen to me."

"If you want me to leave-"

"No." Lisanna even grinned, staring across the table at him before glancing up at the tiny stage on the other end of the bar. "Sis'll be on soon. And she won't say it, but I'm sure she'll be glad to see you."

Yeah, well, Laxus wasn't too glad to be around the new Lisanna too long, so he only went over to the bar to order a drink and find somewhere else to sit for awhile. And suffer through Mirajane's set.

It wasn't so much that he didn't think Mirajane had a nice voice. Because she did. And it wasn't that he thought she wasn't talented on her guitar. Because she was. It was more of the songs that Mira sang that bothered him.

They were all about past relationships. Good ones, bad ones, anything and everything. He'd never liked hearing her sing her own songs when they were dating. Rather, he'd have her sing covers of songs that he listened to in his headphones and, with giggles, Mirajane would typically comply because Laxus was just so cute.

With her preforming at the bar, however, this, of course, did not occur.

Still, it had been a long time since Laxus had heard Mirajane sing. A very long time. And he wouldn't admit it, but sometimes, late at night, he'd wished that he'd recorded her, once or twice, singing him some of his songs, just the way he liked them. And though he didn't hear any covers like he would have liked, just the sound of Mirajane's voice was rather calming. Relaxing.

Almost as if they were spending that year together again, when they were still together, and on rare nights she'd sing him to sleep, playing softly on her guitar.

"Did you like that song?"

Lisanna came to join him up at the bar eventually, grinning at him. Laxus had been listening to Mira sing up there, head down, staring into his beer mug, but glanced at her when she sat down.

"Hmmm?"

"That song's about you, silly."

"W-What? No."

"Mmmhmm."

"Was not."

"How do you know?"

He flicked her forehead with a frown. "Because she's been singing that one for years, dummy."

"Awe." Lisanna giggled, reaching up to rub at her head. "I thought I'd trick you. Make you nervous."

"Why would I care if she wrote something about me?" He went back to staring into his mug. "Literally at all?"

Lisanna glanced up at the stage, where Mira was still strumming away and had the rapt attention of most the men in the room. To Laxus she asked, "Where are you headed next?"

"Home. Whatever towns are in the way of that," he said simply. "You?"

"We're here for awhile. Mira and the bar management have a pretty good thing going and a few other bars in close by towns. I guess this is kinda home base for the moment." Grinning, she said, "But we're going home soon. To Magnolia. Well, soon as in, like, two months or three or so."

Laxus shrugged a bit. "Yeah, well, I'm sure Gramps and the others'll be glad to see you."

"It's still a long way away though. Even though it's soon. You know?"

"You seem to be having a pretty grand time out here," he remarked, glancing over his shoulder to find where those guys had gotten off to. Nowhere. Just sitting over there arguing from the looks of it. Laxus could only hope that it wasn't over Lisanna.

Seriously, if he could go back, he would have never teased her or made fun of her about Natsu. Would have just let that damn thing happen and not made a big fuss over it. If only.

Laxus got ditched by Lisanna eventually and just sat alone, up at the bar, drinking until Mirajane finished her set. He wasn't expecting much after it from her, but was pleasantly (in someways) surprised when she came over to him eventually.

"If you don't buy me a drink soon," she said as she came to claim the empty seat beside him, "then I'm going to be too drunk off other guys' drinks to enjoy it."

Glancing down at her, he asked, "What makes you think I'll buy you a drink?"

"Because you're just going to, so get over it."

"Do I have to talk to you? Along with this drink?"

"Nope."

Laxus held up a hand to wave over the bartender. "Perfect."

A drink turned into two and no conversation turned into Mirajane telling him about what she'd been doing since they last spoke as he sat there awkwardly, trying hard not to let on that he really didn't care.

Because seriously, he just didn't.

Mira's stories, unlike Lisanna's, seemed to involve a lot less guys, but Laxus was certain he was only hearing the censored versions. Just like how if she were to ask him of what he'd been up to since they'd last seen one another, the last thing he'd tell her that he was so down at one point that he drowned himself in booze and women until he didn't feel so bad.

It had taken awhile.

"So I guess things are still turning out okay," Mirajane went on as Laxus hardly listened. "I mean, sure, I'm not, like, doing some insane amount of gigs or anything, but I'm doing enough. And I am sort of supporting Lisanna-"

"And her drinking habit?"

"It's not as bad as it seems," Mira told him with a frown. "She just met a new guy last week, is all."

"Right." Laxus glanced around for her, but she seemed to be gone then, as well as those two guys. "Was that the dark haired one with glasses or-"

"He's back again?" Mira made a face before staring down at her empty glass. "i should have never let her leave Magnolia."

Laxus had to concur, but kept quiet, as it wasn't his place to say so.

"Everyone gets to taste freedom once," he remarked simply. "Some of us just like it more than others."

"And some of us," Mirajane quipped in what he was sure was a slight to him, "just don't know what they have till it's gone."

"Is it that obvious?" he mumbled, in that weird drunk place that he wasn't out of it, in any regard, but was definitely a bit looser around the tongue. "That I-"

"I mean, surely she sees that flirting around the edge with Natsu is more than these stupid guys that don't care about her at all ever will be?"

"-still have been thinking a lot about you and how I fucked up and shit, I'm sorry, Mira."

Silence.

Then, suddenly, their gauche moment was ruined as someone threw their arms around around both of them, giggling the entire time.

"Mirajane," Lisanna sang, breath smelling strongly of liquor. "I'm gonna go, huh? So you get home okay, alright?"

"Go where?" Mirajane sat up then, glancing at her sister. "Lisanna-"

"Just somewhere." She dropped her arm around Laxus to hug her sister from behind. "Bye! And Laxus said he'd pay my tab."

"Laxus said what?" The slayer sat up at that. "Because whatever he said, it definitely wasn't-"

"Bye, Laxus." He got a hug too. A tight one. He wasn't happy with Lisanna any longer though and actually shoved her off. Still, she only giggled and said, "I'll see you around, okay? You should come see Mira play again some time."

When he was having so much more fun embarrassing himself in front of the woman instead?

"She's definitely come alive," the slayer complain to Mirajane after Lisanna left, hand in hand with some guy. "Out here."

"She's just getting to do what we all did, when we were kids and used to go out on jobs," Mirajane remarked with a sigh. "I guess. I mean, we actually had to work and put in effort to get the jewels to blow on partying and hanging out, but after all she's been through-"

"Been through? You mean getting a second shot at life?"

"Laxus-"

"Your brother would have a heart attack."

"Yeah, well," she sighed, "that's why we left him back in Magnolia, isn't it?"

Sighing himself, Laxus started, "Hey, Mirajane, about before-"

"You wanna get out of here? Laxus?"

He blinked. Then he frowned. Then he stared down at her. "If this is because I'm paying your sister's tab, don't feel the need to pay me back; I'm going to just have Ever steal some stuff from you guys' place and pawn it for me."

"Just shut up."

He could do that. He preferred to do that.

What Laxus didn't get, of course, was that Mirajane, in fact, wasn't having as great a time as Lisanna. Sure, she loved playing her music and the attention she was getting from it, as well as meeting new people and seeing new places, but she was also extremely homesick. She wanted to be around someone in Fairy Tail other than her sister who was looking less and less like her old self by the minute (give Mira's own transformation at that age, she couldn't bitch too much). If Laxus hadn't just apologized (and sort of drunkenly admitted that he was still into her) though, she still might not have done much.

But he did say what he did. And she did feel the way that she did.

So why not just go for it? If he was going back home and she wouldn't be there for months? It might be one of the only times they'd see one another for a long time. Why waste it if they both wanted it?

"You getting used to the hotel life?" Laxus asked her when they arrived at the tiny one she and Lisanna were currently staying at. "I know you said you hated them that time we went on vacation together."

"We had time for a vacation?"

"Don't ruin this, Mira."

"This," she said as he shut the door behind himself, "isn't really anything until I make it something."

Alrighty then.

Mira felt icky, she claimed, after her show and excused herself into the bathroom while Laxus only went to sit on the end of one of the beds, waiting. He had a lot of time to think. And realize that Mirajane was probably drunk too. And lonely, like him.

He got that way, on long jobs or sabbaticals. Even before Mirajane. It was hard, being away for so long from home. Even when he didn't like being in Magnolia or any of his Fairy Tall members, it was still better to be there than away for extended periods of time.

It crossed his mind about then, that maybe he should turn Mirajane down, be a good guy and tell her that she'd been drinking and that was no good and that, hey, if she was still in to him the next day, when they'd both had a good chance to get associated with one another again...

But then he remembered that Mirajane wasn't just some random; she was his demon and the reason they were there then, in that motel room, wasn't just because they were associates, but because they were...whatever they were, and he wanted to have that back. Even if it was just for an hour or so.

It helped too that when he was teetering between either leaving or staying that Mirajane opened the bathroom door and strode out there in next to nothing.

That helped the decision making a lot.

"I missed you here," he mumbled when she came to claim her place on his lap, Laxus leaning back, hands rested on her hips as he stared up at her. "Demon."

"Mmmm." She wouldn't look him in the eyes. "I missed being called that."

"Yeah?"

Sort of. Mostly just anything other than just Mirajane or Mira. Something special. That only someone who truly knew her would be able to get away with.

"Yeah."

"Then I'll say it more." He leaned forwards once more so that he could nuzzle his head in between her neck and shoulder. "Demon."

"Mmmm."

Laxus had to admit, being with someone he had a history with was good for him as well. Mira knew about how there was a certain part of his tummy that he liked for her to press against and that he hated the feeling of nails against his flesh (it was a turnoff to him, big time, and really ruined the moment), but at the same time he very much so enjoyed teeth (don't ask). Kinda like how he knew how she hated eye contact (at any point during) and was not a big fan of snuggling (which he thought was odd, but never made a complaint because, hey, whatever).

It was just those sorts of things that you get to know after a year that can't be made up for by the thrill of a short fling. And, when it was all said and done, Laxus was glad that he hadn't tried to force himself to walk out because of 'moral reasons' or whatever, as just lying there with Mira felt more right than most things had recently.

"Laxus?"

"Mmmm?"

"Please tell me you don't have a girlfriend."

"I don't have a girlfriend."

"Good."

"That happen a lot to you?"

"Only once." She shifted on the bed, giving him her back. "But a long time ago. Before we ever dated. I usually ask before I… But with you, I just figured..."

"Oh what? That I'm not boyfriend material?"

"That you've still not gotten the timing right for anyone."

"I had it right for you, but-"

"Come off it."

"No."

Sighing, Mirajane said, "It's beyond late, I felt like my whole set was junk-"

"It wasn't." He wiggled his toes. "I liked it."

"Shut up."

"No."

Mira glanced over her shoulder at him, but he didn't move in the slightest. Only laid there, eyes nearly shut.

"Are you staying?"

"I did buy a hotel room for the night and my stuff's there, but… It's not going to be weird, is it? For Lisanna? You guys are sharing a room, right?"

"She won't be back tonight."

"Oh." Laxus blinked. Then frowned. "Please don't tell me about anything like that again."

"I won't have time to. You're leaving in the morning, right?" When she was answered with silence, she repeated, "Right?"

"Well… If today wasn't a great set-"

"Laxus-"

"I should get," he complained, "to see a great set."

"Hear."

"Whatever."

Pushing up, Mirajane shifted again, so that she was on her back as well, before saying, "It won't be tomorrow."

"That's fine. I have some things to do in town, apparently, until then."

"Which are?"

"Well, you, obviously."

"Laxus-"

"And I have some unmanly men to show what a real man is."

"Do what?"

"I might not like your brother, Mirajane," he grumbled as, that time, he gave her his back, "but I can't just let this all go down without extracting some form of revenge for him."

"And what sort of revenge were you thinking?"

"I dunno yet. Leaning towards telling all of those guys that Lisanna's mine and therefore not theirs and completely ruining her social life-"

"Belonging to you seems like it could _make_ a social life in some circles, but go on."

"-but that would be too weird. For you. Us. Right?"

"I dunno. As long as you, like, aren't actually attracted to my sister-"

"Gross. She's like twelve."

"Not even close."

"Feels like it."

"Uh-huh."

"Or," he went on loudly, wishing to leave that portion of the conversation, "I could, you know, just have a talk with Lisanna."

"That sounds interesting."

"About how she should have a talk with you and calm the hell down."

"Less interesting."

Relaxing into the bed, he changed his mind then as he said, "She seems really happy, anyways."

"She is."

"And who am I to judge?"

"Not very pure yourself."

"And, I mean, I'm sure I'm just catching her on a bad night."

"Kind of."

"But mostly, I think I still see her as a little kid."

"Yeah."

"And as my girlfriend's little sister."

"Probably."

"And I really just don't want her to, like, turn into Cana or something."

"Or something."

"And how can a kid grow up in a bar, only to become a drunk when they leave it?"

"Maybe it was influential in the early years and now she's realized her true calling as a Fairy Tail Mage; to drink a lot and bog me down with requests and never ending needs."

"Well, you are good at filling requests. All kinds."

"Hmmm." Mira paused for a moment before saying, "How long are we going to talk around us and pretend to really be that interested in Lisanna?"

"I figured as long as you'd let us."

Letting out a breath, she said, "I don't think that we're ready to date again."

"I am."

"No. You're ready to sleep with me again."

"Well, I already did that and am still intrigued by you, so-"

"It's different, Laxus, when you've dated before. There's certain expectations. On both of us. And right now-"

"If you don't think you can be monogamous, Mirajane," he chided, taking _that_ tone with her (for, like, the first time over), "then you shouldn't have led me on."

There it was. Finally. After so long, in that moment, Laxus actually got Mirajane to giggle. Rather loudly and for a good minute, she just laid there, laughing. He didn't turn to look at her, for fear of ruining the moment, but did smile softly to himself, staring towards the window. Even though the curtains were shut, he could see moonlight peaking through the sides.

"I fucked up, Mira," he sighed. "A while ago. Breaking up with you. And I've tried a couple of times to fix it now and you just won't let me. If you don't want me, that's fine. But I want you. I...love you, you know. And I shouldn't have ever broken up with you. I should have thought of another way. But I did, you know, give it a lot of thought. I don't think I ever told you that. But I did. I thought about it a lot. And I felt like shit."

"You ruined my morning-"

"Breakfasts, yeah, I remember. But I'm saying now it was a mistake. And-"

"Lax, if you couldn't take me working up at the guildhall all the time, there's no way that you could possibly take me being-"

"But I told you that last time we saw one another that I want to travel with you."

They could both hear it in his voice though. When he'd said that before, back in Magnolia, it had been out of desperation. After months of contemplation, he knew that solution just wasn't going to cut it and he really didn't want to do it. At all.

Mira could tell too as she only said, "You know that wouldn't work."

"Yeah." Laxus let out a slow breath. "I know."

"You love taking jobs constantly."

"I do."

"And you couldn't just sit around and watch me do something while you do nothing at all."

"I definitely couldn't."

"You'd grow bored. We'd have so much time that you'd be bored."

"Yeah."

"So..."

"Why can't we just go back before I ever brought up the stupid timing shit? Huh? And just see one another when we see one another? You're doing your own thing now, and that's fine, you like it, and I'll go back to doing my thing, which I love, and we can see one another when we get a chance. What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing." Mirajane shut her eyes. "Had you not-"

"And now I'm saying let's ignore that I ever did that. And just try again. Try harder to be around one another. Because damn, Mira, it's been over a year now and I _still miss you_. Doesn't that mean something? If you miss me too?"

But Mirajane didn't answer. And, even though he knew she wasn't really asleep, he left it at that.

"Oh, no, gross, did you guys sleep together?"

Until Lisanna woke them up bright and early the next morning, stumbling around in the dark room, as the blinds were still drawn. Mirajane sat up a bit, but Laxus only laid there, eyes shut, praying that he too could pretend to be asleep.

"That's, like, a rule, Mira. That we can't bring guys back to the shared space."

"Laxus isn't just a guy."

"Neither is-"

"Yes. Whoever you're going to say, yes, he is."

Heh.

"So," he heard after a moment, "are we going to talk about what happened? To lead to...this?"

"Wh- Not with him right here!"

"He's sleeping."

"He's not a sleep," Mira complained. "He's faking."

"No way."

"He's even peeking his eyes open. You're not tricking anyone, Laxus."

"He's tricking me."

Groaning, Laxus rolled onto his stomach before, against the pillow, grumbling out, "Mira and I fucked because we always fuck because we're in love. That's the story. Now go away."

That got him a hit to the side by Mirajane and a lot of laughter from Lisanna before she rushed off to the bathroom, leaving them alone again.

"You're bad," Mirajane chided because, you know, that was a horrible thing to be, when you were Mirajane. "Laxus."

"You're the one that hit me," he pointed out through a yawn. "That's really bad."

"I was only bad because you were bad."

"Don't be such a follower then."

Slowly, Mirajane relaxed into the bed when she heard Lisanna turn on the shower in the bathroom. Then she softly whispered, "You think I love you, Laxus?"

"I know you do."

"That's silly."

"You took me home, Mira, before I even tried schmoozing you into it. And then you wanted me to stay the night-"

"I asked if you wanted to. I didn't-"

"You wouldn't have asked if you didn't want me to. And you haven't kicked me out yet even though I just told your sister that we love fucking each other-"

"Yeah, well, the more you say it, the closer you are to getting kicked out, so-"

"I missed you." Laxus, still on his back, tossed an arm out, which fell across Mirajane. "And everything about you."

"Not everything," she said, trying to shove his arm off. "And you know it."

"I don't know it. Might be true, but don't know it."

When he refused to lift up his arm, Mirajane eventually gave up and, very timidly moved to run her hand up and down it. Once Laxus let out a content sigh, she seemed to relax as well and even shifted so that she could kiss his bicep.

They'd figure out some way to make it work that time. Laxus just knew it.

"He, like, sleeps all day."

"Coming from you, Lisanna, I think that's saying something."

That was what Laxus awoke to sometime after noon, as well as the sound of a soft strumming as Mirajane tried out a new chord progression. She and her sister were over on the other bed, from the sound of it, while Laxus was still on his, face buried in the pillow and arms folded up above his head.

"Are you guys, like, back on or-"

"I don't know, Lisanna." Her strumming stopped, if only for the moment. "We haven't… I guess. Sort of. But…'

"You know you still like him."

"Of course I do. I've never said I haven't."

"I like having him around, anyways," Lisanna giggled. "Very much."

"You would like anyone from the guild to hang out with."

"Well...yeah. But Laxus is good."

At the moment, anyways. When he tried to break up whatever it was that she had going on with those guys, she would actually hate his guts. But Lisanna didn't know that just yet, so she couldn't be mad at the slayer.

"He's awake, you know."

"What?" Laxus heard Lisanna shift on the bed. "How can you tell? This time I'm calling your bluff, Mira. There's no way-"

"Aren't you, dragon?"

He was frozen then, hearing that monicker for the first time in a long time and only laid there for a moment before grumbling out, "Would you two can it? I'm tryin' to get some rest over here."

"You are good," Lisanna complimented her sister. "Maybe you guys are meant to be together."

Yeah. Maybe. But definitely not for that reason alone.

Lisanna didn't want to eat lunch (or an early dinner; whatever) with them when Laxus and Mirajane finally left the hotel room sometime later. She said she had plans. Which was for the best. Laxus and Mirajane more or less just wanted to spend that meal discussing where they were headed next.

For him, it was rather simple.

"Home," he told her. "In a few days. Then another job. And then I'll get you on the lacrima, figure out where you're at, and come see you. Repeat."

"Surely you wouldn't enjoy all that."

"Surely," he argued, "I would."

"And there's still, at least, a month passing between when we get together. And even then you'll be tired and I'll be busy and, Lax, what about the..."

"The what?" He glanced up from cutting into his steak. "Demon?"

She glanced around the restaurant before back at him with a slight frown. "I'm assuming that you...see people. Like I see people. And...I just want to know if we're…gonna...not see other people. Like, is this real or are we just-"

"I don't know about you," he said slowly then, still just staring at her, "but everything I know about...open relationships is that they usually don't turn out too well for one person. Usually the more emotional one. So-"

"You're afraid of me hurting you?"

"Ha ha. I'm trying to save you here, woman."

"I'm not more emotionally attached to you than you are to me." Mira gave him a look. "You stalked me here, remember?"

"Oh, bull. I was just passing through."

"Likely story."

"You're the one that had your little sister drag me into-"

"Never happened."

"Did so."

"Liar."

"Demon."

"Dragon."

Then they just stared before, finally, with a grin, he said, "I wouldn't want to think of you as sleeping with other people anyways. I don't like the idea of it now, actually."

"You're so immature," Mira said, sitting up taller. "That's what Lisanna would say. That no one owns anyone and the whole world's free and-"

"What did you do to her? Taking her out here with you?"

Mira only hummed. "Unleashed her inner self, apparently."

"Yeah, well, me and you must be...whatever the opposite of unleashed is. Inleashed?"

"I think it would just be leashed, dragon."

Nodding, he said, "Then I'm leashed. Or I want to be, anyways."

"You sure are more open, Laxus," she said simply, glancing down at her own plate, "with this than you ever were the entire time we were together."

"Well, yeah," he complained. "I had something I really liked and now I got a chance at getting it again. Why wouldn't I give it my all?"

Truth be told, it was more of a tradeoff than anything else. He was being as open as he ever would be about his feelings and hopes for her and them, while Mirajane was the most reserved she'd ever been about such a thing. It was clear that he'd hurt her, back then, and he knew it would take a while to get them back on their normal tracks, when she'd be comfortable in that he cared about her and he'd be content enough that she wasn't going to try to pull what he did on her and leave him.

"You're just coming on a bit strong, is all. If not desperate."

"I'm not hearing you hate it."

"Oh, I certainly would on someone else," she assured him before glancing up with a slight grin. "But coming from you, I dunno, it's almost...cute."

Laxus wasn't cute. And usually wouldn't enjoy being called it. But at the moment it only made him sit up straight and clear his throat.

"Yeah, well, I try."

"You do?"

"For you."

And they shared a smile then, if only for a moment, before looking off. It wasn't lost on either of them that the core reason they separated the first time was still ever present, if not more so, with her on the road as well as him then. They also both were very aware of the fact that, really, they should be taking things a lot slower than they were, maybe not even having the conversation they had so far about their relationship, as it shouldn't even be called that yet.

They should just be dating. At best. And see where things went. Because too much riding on something too early would only lead to disaster. They were both old enough to know better, after all.

And yet…

"It could be worse," Laxus told Makarov when he got back to Magnolia a few days later only for the old man to carp at him when, while telling him about his travels (Laxus came by every time he finished a job to, as much as he hated it, water those damn plants and pick up around the place, ugh), somehow he let it slip that he and Mirajane were back on. "I mean, we could have gotten drunk and then married."

Makarov, who hadn't even thought that the two of them would end up at the alter back when they were dating previously, had to set down his teacup at that, frowning over at his grandson. And, with a long sigh, he said, "Yes, it could have been much worse, I suppose."

"And if that's all you need here, Gramps," the man said as he water the last plant, there on the back patio of the man's house, "I have a demon to get on the lacrima. And a certain Salamander to bribe."

"A what now?"

But Laxus only shook his head, too fearful to speak his plan of getting (or tricking) Natsu into talking to Lisanna over a lacrima or writing her or something only to beg her to come back home, which would effectively end (he hoped) her little soiree into adult life and send her back into her dorky existence where she was mostly ignored, but certainly _safe_ back home.

Because, you know, that was just important to him too. Not as important as being with Mirajane, but definitely up there.

Even when he found out that bribing Natsu with a fight (which worked), had the adverse effect in which Lisanna flat out told Natsu that she wasn't thinking about coming back to Fairy Tail for a few months and she'd just see him then, Laxus couldn't be too mad.

Beating the crap out of Natsu (who enjoyed every second of it, the little freak) and getting the demon back, all in one week? Losing Lisanna to the dark side (if one considered that the dark side) was sort of just a moot point.

* * *

 **Too long? By which I mean too obvious that I just didn't know where to end this one? I actually thought about chopping it into chapters, but the transitions wouldn't sit right, so thanks if you actually sat through and read this whole thing. Sometimes I just feel like writing (extra) long ones.**


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